A bit more than three weeks ago we presented our Standard format project. After having read your comments we changed the way to implement it. No need to go back over the previous version of this project (you can read the 700 and more comments if you wish), I'm going to talk about the final version.

The goal is still the same : offer a scalable and restrictive format.
Today, we have to many playable characters in each clan. New players are lost with all these options while paradoxically, old players own the best characters but always play with the same ones. With the Standard format, we want to offer to the new and old players a more restrictive environment if they wish, with less options in each clan but more often renewed.

What will we do?
1/ Create a list of characters called "Standard" which will be reset half-yearly. In this list you'll find all characters (and LD too) released within the three last years before the update, Leaders, starter deck characters and characters released after the update. You'll find 13 to 16 characters in each clan. New clan will keep all their characters.

3/ T1 and T2 will be renamed in Extended and Extended 25.
Extended format: all characters are allowed, 40 stars max. no double, equivalent to the current T2.
Extended 25 format: Extended characters, 25 stars max., no double, equivalent to the current T1.

4/ Several changes will be made on the DT.
- The timer will be significantly reduced for all DT matches. From the first match you'll have the same timer as the one you have now above 100 points.
- We will create a list of penalized characters in DT which will be independent from the list of ELO banned characters. The rule will probably remain the same: -2 points for each penalized character un your 4 characters team. We might change the penalty in the future if necessary.
- T1 and T2 room will be merged in one single room Extended Fights. To allow you to play with 15 to 40 stars decks, the battle system will make you face opponents with similar decks. The DTs will always be in this room.
- There will always be a DT every other our but alternately with the two rooms, Extended and Standard. it means there will be a DT one hour out of 4 in the Extended room and the same in the Standard room.
- We will randomly give a collector to players ranked in the top 150 in DTs. We didn't decide the exact number of collectors yet nor the rules of the draw but we're thinking about 5 collectors a day.

I insist on the fact that with the system of matches against similar decks (which already exists on T1 and T2 rooms) you'll be able to build competitive decks with a small number of stars as you'll always face similar decks. Le big difference is that 25 stars decks will face slightly bigger decks and 26 stars decks will face slightly smaller ones. It doesn't happen now because of the rooms limits which don't match with the way DT decks are built.

5/ We will create two new battle rooms.
- Deathmatch Standard: just like the current DM T2 but with Standard decks.
- Survivor Standard: just like the current Survivor T2 but with Standard decks.

6/ We will also make some minor changes as:
- new packs in the shop with Standard characters only.
- sorting options in the collection to only see Standard characters.
- changes in the theme decks (we are still thinking about it).
- minor changes in the visuals of cards to make Standard characters easier to recognize.

You may notice that ELO won't change at all, the same for DM or Survivor rooms. Of course the Fight Club and the Warehouse won't change either.
About the deadline, with all these changes we cannot be sure it will be released on March. We are working on this project and we want to release it quickly but I can't give a date but it should be implemented before this summer.

Maybe you're wondering why we changed some parts of this project and not others. I will answer to questions I would ask myself if I were in your shoes. If you have others, post a comment or send me your question here: feedback@urban-rivals.com

1/ Why 3 years and not 2?
With one more year we keep the restrictive format but there are more choices in each clan which will limit speculation as there will be more playable characters. And it will give more variety to decks.
In addition, by increasing the life span of cards in Standard, we limit the financial investment needed to be up-to-date. In return a strong card will stay longer in the Standard. But in the end I'm confident with the fact that 3 years is the good balance.

2/ Why don't we change the ELO mode.ELO format has its own balance system. We realized it wasn't necessary to use Standard to make this format evolve. In addition, variety and strategy are the heart of ELO and we decided it wasn't a good idea to take the risk to break this fragile balance which had been so difficult to reach. We will regularly add ELO bans to make the metagame evolve which will be easier with the end of the link between penalized characters in DT and ELO bans.

3/ Why will Extended and Standard DTs alternate instead of having them at the same time?
If we do that, having DTs at the same time, it's more likely you'll find one of the two format more efficient than the other because of the playable characters. It would lead to a "real" tournament in one of the format and another room where it will be nearly impossible to win. I remain vague because I don't know which format will be more paying. But I know that the two are pretty different. There will obviously be one giving more points.
On the contrary, if you all play with the same format, there is no problem any more. Those who'll win are the best, that's all.
With this switching system Standard/Extended, Standard players will be able to keep the same deck as it will work in both format.

4/ Why Don’t we create a Standard DT switching with the Extended but every hour? And also, why Don’t we keep the Extended DT and create another game mode side by side with the Standard?

With a DT every hour we would inject too much clintz in the economy of the game and there would be enough spare time left to do something else. We Don’t want to do that.
In addition, we are not completely satisfied with the current DTs which are dominated by a small number of decks and «historical» characters. We think that the Standard Format fits well with DT and it give the opportunity to regularly update the metagame while remaining open to the great majority.

Our goal is not to be harmful to the current T1/T2 players. They invested in the cards they wanted to use in a competitive game mode. We understood that and that’s why we’ll keep a DT Extended BUT we also want a more open DT too.

5/ Why Don’t you create Standard 25 rooms in DM and/or Survivor?
We decided to begin slowly. If the Standard works as well as we hope and if we see that you want these rooms, we will open them. But for the moment it’s not essential.

Bonus: Don’t you fear too much speculation on Standard cards?
No, all the contrary. We have 3 different game modes (Standard, Extended and ELO) where you can win prizes. There is no big risk to see everybody storm the Market to buy the best Standard cards at the expense of the others. It reduces the risks of a wild speculation. There may be some rises on several cards at the release of the Standard but it should remain reasonable.

These changes are far better than the original standard suggestion. Sure things have changed e.g dts only being available in certain rooms but that is fair. I also feel that the 3 year is a good cap as there would be close to 3 clans with there bonuses. Is it Jungo or Skeelz?

With the new 3 year rule I think standard will become much more popular, I wouldn't mind playing in a standard type 1 room, not just type 2.
But I guess it will be applied sooner or later, thanks for listening to us
Also, will standard packs replace new blood? or be a separate pack that updates every 6 months not every 2 weeks.

@ Soundtrack-HW : The New Blood is already 100% Standard We will most certainly add a booster with 3 cards from the Standard set with an option to select 6 clans that would cost 25 credits (because of the smaller selection of cards) and we are thinking of changing the full deck to includes only cards from the Standard, the price will go up also. This would make sense because Full Deck is a popular choice among new player and this way they would get 8 cards playable in all mode, including standard, the price would probably be 70 credits for 8 cards including one rare, all in the Standard Set.

@ Dr.Ido
Cool pack ideas!
But when you guys said standard pack I thought it would include all of them xD
I guess that would be a bit out of proportion though.
Good luck finishing off the whole standard stuff

Fantastic compromise! I applaud UR for listening to the people and implementing some of the communities ideas.
I'm actually quite interested in the standard mode now it seems much more reasonable at three years.
Quick question : with the compromise will there still be a rebalancing of the clans with standard in mind? I remember at two years certain clans had almost no options to play now I haven't checked the list but I'd be surprised if that wasn't still the case - I'm looking particularly at Roots who were near unplayable. Can we expect a few quick releases for these clans?

Awesome!
Looks like a win-win to me. Keep it up!
Kinda looking forward to it (Standard), and I'm glad you staff kept Elo.
Other than that I have nothing to say because I'm not exactly able to picture what Standard will look like, so only time will tell.

Thanks for the update!

One question: the 12 Cr and credits/clintz rewards for Elo, are they still the same after these changes?

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